I failed my Google interview and was banned from reapplying for life…

Time and again, I hear from people who are waiting until the time is right to apply to their dream job. Be it Google, Facebook, Amazon, or any other company, they don’t want to interview until they’re completely ready.

I can understand the motivation. It feels like you only have one shot to get your dream job.

This is horseshit.

Even worse than being untrue, people will delay their interviews, sometimes indefinitely.

Do you ever feel 100% prepared for an interview? Of course not! There’s so much stuff that could be asked in your interview that there’s no way you could know it all.

If you’re never going to feel 100% prepared, why would you wait until this mythical time before interviewing for your dream job?

The worst that can happen is that you don’t pass the interview.

At the time, this can seem like the end of the world. But I promise you that it’s not.

All companies realize that candidates grow over time. You learn more and gain additional skills that mean that even if you weren’t the right fit a year ago, you might be a great employee now.

You won’t be prevented from interviewing again, and now you already know the ropes. You know the recruiter who you worked with, you know what the process is like, and you generally know what to expect.